Ready to cause another racket in the Rackard

Teak tough Mayo defenders David Kenny and Eoghan Collins are united in their ambition to add another Nicky Rackard Cup final winner’s medal to their collections in Croke Park next Saturday, writes Stuart Tynan.

Rivals only five miles apart as part of the never-ending competition that is Tooreen versus Ballyhaunis, David Kenny and Eoghan Collins were also part of Mayo’s first Nicky Rackard title triumph in 2016, with Kenny also winning an All-Ireland U21 football title earlier that year. Defeat in the 2020 final to Donegal was followed by a second title win twelve months later, but that 2021 win remains Mayo hurling’s last success in Croker after losses in the 2022 Christy Ring final to Kildare and last year’s Nicky Rackard decider, Donegal once again inflicting the pain.

“The camp is delighted with the way things have gone this year. We weren't so pleased coming down the bus this time last year so we want to right that wrong,” says Mayo captain David Kenny.

“Winning the league this year was brilliant but championship is championship and that was the immediate focus. We had to get back on the horse and try and get to a final and lucky enough we sealed that fate with a game to spare, so we were delighted with that as well.” 

That heavy Christy Ring final defeat to Kildare signalled the end of the road for many of Mayo’s long-standing servants including Keith Higgins, Stephen Coyne and Ger McManus. It’s been a rebuild since and Kenny of Tooreen, along with Eoghan Collins of Ballyhaunis, are now two of Mayo’s most experienced on the big day.

“They're all learning curves, every single one of them. We see where [Kildare] are at the minute, like they're only a game away from going back up to Liam McCarthy.

“Kildare themselves shouldn't have found themselves in that division, but that's just the way it works out. I suppose we were the unfortunate ones that took the defeat that day.

“It’s a fairly new squad built since the Christy Ring Final in 2022,” remarks Collins, who was not involved with Mayo at the time due to a stint with the Clare footballers between 2017 and 2023. “An awful lot of lads would have got experience playing in Croke Park or being there on match day last year. You'd hope they'll bring them lessons and that our experience should stand to us and that we'll go out and just get our best performance of the year and hopefully get over the line.” 

It has been a busy year for Collins. A teacher at St Colman’s College, he was the manager of the school’s team that reached the Hogan Cup final on St Patrick’s Day last. Even after their All-Ireland semi-final win in Mullingar back in February, he was in action later that evening for Mayo against London in the National Hurling League.

“These are once in a lifetime opportunities that you're involved in. They don't come around too often. It was an enjoyable couple of weeks, you're busy, but I suppose when you're winning and things are going well, it's easier to keep the head down and work hard.” 

While that London league game ended in defeat – Mayo’s only loss so far this year – games against Christy Ring opposition like the Exiles and Wicklow have brought this Mayo team forward, Eoghan Collins believes.

“There's no doubt that it instilled confidence in the group. The first game against London, we lost by a point or two, but we wouldn't have been overly happy with our scoring efficiency that day. We felt we left a lot behind us and that was kind of the message that we drove into in the league final, that we were well able to compete at London's level.

“We probably outworked them in the second-half, and we got the victory. That really boosted the squad's morale going into the championship and we got four good victories on the bounce in the Nicky Rackard campaign.” 

Mayo’s squad is a much different one from ten years previous. While the majority of the side is still made up of Tooreen and Ballyhaunis players, the Moytura trio of Joe Burke and John and Evan Heraty, Conor Murray of Castlebar Mitchels, Caiseal Gaels’ Luke and Matthew Connor, and Ballina’s Kevin Duffy have made regular appearances, to demonstrate the growing reach of the panel.

“It's definitely changed. When I walked in last year, I had no clue of some lads from the different clubs!” admits Collins.

“You get to know them and they're great fellas and they're just willing to learn and feed off the more experienced lads; what you can do and how to improve out there.” 

David Kenny has also lauded the impact of Galway duo Simon Thomas and Ryan Duffy, who qualify to play for Mayo under the parentage rule.

“They're great lads, great characters to have and they bring great morale. Simon is a brilliant hurler and Ryan's the craic merchant, but he's really coming into himself these days. Just two brilliant guys and a huge amount of honesty out of them.

“Ryan and Simon haven't missed a single session all year and to be traveling the miles they're doing and coming down and putting as much as we're into it, it's just brilliant to see.” 

Mayo will be favourites for the final against Roscommon. Between their two league and championship encounters already this season, Ray Larkin’s team has won by a combined 26 points. The latter match saw Mayo play much of the game with fourteen men, but Collins believes previous meetings will go out the window on Saturday.

“Roscommon are very good hurlers, very physical. It’s a final, so any team that goes out there is going to work hard and it's just going to come down to who probably wants it more.

“Joe (Burke) got an early enough sending off but we just regrouped. It was probably a position that we hadn't been in before. We were down a man, down a couple of points, so we learned a lot that day and it drove us on.

“We know that we're able to compete even if we go down a man or some obstacle is thrown on our way. We're able to bounce back, we're able to figure it out and there's just lessons learned through different games.

“We played Wicklow in the league; they had a man sent off early in the game, so we've been on both ends and know how to work things during the match itself.” 

David Kenny knows much of the Roscommon panel from Tooreen’s regular battles in the Connacht club championship against the likes of Four Roads, Athleague and Padraig Pearses, and he expects another close affair.

“They have a few lads from outside the county as well that our lads would know a good bit about. They are a good team and we're expecting a serious, serious response from the last two times we've met them.”